Job Search Tips for Job Hoppers
August 3, 2009 by Darlene McDaniel
Filed under Jobs
First, a job hopper is not necessarily a bad thing in this market. Today, people have 6 or more jobs before they land and even then, there is no guarantee that a person will remain on the job. Back in “the day” people went to work every day, most of the time whether they wanted to or not. They worked for 20 years or so and retired. Very few people left their job. It
was frowned upon if you were a job hopper. It is still frowned upon if you change jobs a lot, but it is not an insurmountable obstacle when applying for a job.
Here are some Tips For Job Hoppers that may help when discussing your journey through the various jobs you have worked.
1. Don’t attempt to skirt the issue of your job hopping
2. Use a Cover Letter to highlight years of experience and accomplishments
3. Determine why you want the job
4. Identify why you left the previous jobs – Why did you leave the jobs?
5. Develop a functional resume rather than a chronological resume
6. Develop a hybrid resume (Combination of Chronological and Functional Resume)
7. Be clear about what you are looking for in a job or organization
8. Ensure you are ready to discuss mergers, acquisitions and organizational name changes
There are still concerns for job hoppers, however it does not have to be a show stopper for you. You can still get a job, however you will have some work to do to convince the hiring manager about your willingness to remain at their organization for longer than a few months or a few years. It cost organizations thousands of dollars to hire, train and on board a new employee. So your greatest challenge is convincing the organization that may be interested in you that they should take a risk and hire you.
I don’t recommend that you attempt to mask your job changes. Be up front and honest. The functional or hybrid resume will help you present your skills and abilities and work experience in a way that doesn’t create a red flag or immediate concern out of the gate when an organization is considering you. But be honest. Be clear about what you are looking for in a job and practice presenting that information.
Image Credit: sxc.hu
As a job hopper, the best way for you to triumph in the search is to stay focused on what the hiring manager’s biggest challenge is, and how you can help. Darlene nicely balances the challenges facing a job hopper, and what can be done dring the search to position yourself.
But you also have a strength as well. You’ve seen a lot of work environments, and probably have a greater variety of job skills to bring to a new opportunity. Focus on finding out what the hiring manager needs, and craft your messages to show how you can solve the problem for them. I guaranty that the manager will listen to someone who promises a solution to their biggest challenges.
I run a retained executive search firm, working on executive positions of $100,000 or more. I see the recommendation of using a functional resume, rather than a chronological resume, and really can’t recommend it. If I get a resume that is entirely functional, without any work history, I normally pass on the candidate. These come from two types of people: people trying to cover something up, and people who are trying to change careers. If you’re trying to cover something up, you’re not going to fool them with a functional resume – this dodge is all too common. If you’re changing careers, you’re not going to fool them into thinking that you have experience in their industry.
Better to have a half page summary that highlights your skills, followed by a chronological work history that has sections within each job’s description with bold, two- or three-word headlines (such as New Program Development or Operations Management) that prove, using achievements, that you have these skills. If you’re a career changer, the employer will determine whether those skills, in the settings where you demonstrated them, are relevant to their position. Non-profit fund-raising skills are similar to for-profit sales and marketing skills. Finance in manufacturing companies is similar to finance in a public school system (although there are many differences).
For those who fear they will be labeled job hoppers, here is how most employers view people who they are hiring into more than just cookie cutter positions, such as hamburger flippers or data entry clerks:
Few organizations are simple enough to have jobs that are simple enough to learn in less than six months, and in which the employee can make a significant contribution in less than a year. A one year hire is a loss, and a two year hire is marginal at best. It takes three years, and more likely five years, for a person to see the long-term results of the programs they put in place. Bear in mind that it takes at least two months, and it can be up to six months, just to conduct a replacement search for a person when they leave. And if the replacement is working, they can’t start for two to four weeks.
You can have short-term stops for a variety of reasons – you could be following a spouse (but the employer wonders, “When will your spouse be moving again?”), caring for a dying relative (the employer will let this one pass one time), downsized (but the employer will wonder why they chose you and kept someone else), or the company folded (even here, the employer may wonder if you’re making choices without learning enough about companies at which you interview before you join them).
What it comes down to is that employers will forgive some occasional job hopping, especially if this has taken place in the last two years as our economy fell apart, but if you have had a career filled with six month, two year, and nine month jobs, you’re going to have a problem, and no resume befuddlement will hide it. They’re going to wonder if you are easily bored, easily dissatisfied, or can’t play with others. More significantly, they’re going to wonder if they’re going to spend nine months training you, and then see you leave three months after you’ve been trained.
If your career falls into the latter category, you’ll need to concentrate on networking to get your next job – if you were an impressive performer at all of those past jobs, you should have developed some friends who think you are impressive, and will help you.
At the same time, and I’ll say this as gently as I can, you should take a look at why you’ve had so many jobs. It’s unlikely that you’ve had incredibly bad luck over and over again. Are you in the wrong career? Are you choosing to go to work for unstable companies? (Perhaps they promised you a pile of stock options). Would you be better off working as a consultant, which inherently means short-term gigs? Are you too uncompromising to work for soemone else? Should you be running your own show?
Hi Steve, Thanks for stopping by bizzia Careers. Thanks for adding to the discussion. Stop by any time.
Darlene